Hiring Greatness

How to Recruit Your Dream Team and Crush the Competition

David E. Perry, Mark J. Haluska

• Publisher: Wiley
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9781119147466
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Commerce
• Subtopic: Management

The Unprecedented Tell-All Guide Through the Intricacies of Executive Recruitment

The single greatest opportunity that an organization has to improve both performance and culture in one stroke lies in the hiring of a new executive—the right executive. The fresh thinking of a skilled leader has the potential to unleash innovation, empower employees, and generate wealth for the company. Similarly, a bad hire may mortally wound the organization and cause ripple effects throughout the entire economy.

Hiring Greatness contains valuable insider strategies and tactics—previously only known to a handful of America's wealthiest, elite head-hunters—to attract, recruit, and retain star executives. Authors David E. Perry and Mark J. Haluska have completed more than 1800 search projects across five continents, maintaining a 99.97% success rate, and negotiating more than $380 millionin salaries. Like magicians unveiling the hidden 'tricks of the trade, ' Perry and Haluska reveal:

• How to systematically secure—and retain—the perfect talent for your company
• How to keep recruiters from poaching your star executives (a good hire is relatively meaningless if they leave the company)
• Twenty-three questions you must ask a potential headhunter
• The language that makes your company the most compelling, and how HR lingo can repel the best talent
• Four critical turnoffs that drive great candidates away from top companies

One company created $3.8 million of market value each hour, for six months, simply by hiring the right leader. Hiring Greatness takes you behind the scenes of one of the world's most profitable and secretive industries, meticulously showing how any organization can make monumental hiring decisions that lead to massive success.

Chapter 1
Great Expectations
Defining Value

Never tell me “the sky's the limit” when there are footprints on the moon.

—Paul Brandt

The midday flight to L.A. had been uneventful—up, down, no delays. Exactly how I like my flights.

Michael, my designated “second” on this project, drove from the airport. We were both pretty quiet as we limped through the heavy Los Angeles traffic heading toward the client's office in the City of Industry. Going straight there was my idea and Michael was visibly nervous. I guess I should have been too. I had voiced my concerns to Michael on the flight down. I saw no point in stopping at our hotel to rest, let alone unpack, as we might not be there long. Although this was potentially going to be my 1,000th recruiting assignment, Michael knew I wasn't certain we were going to accept the assignment we were heading to discuss. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's rewind a week to when our story began.

It was a typical Friday morning. I was halfway through my second cup of coffee. Fridays are always busy: closing out projects, reaffirming next week's meeting itineraries, weekly strategic results review, and so on. For me it's a designated quiet time from 7 to 10 a.m. and the staff knows to hold my calls: no one gets through unless it's an emergency and they know what constitutes an emergency. So when the phone rang I picked it up immediately, expecting to hear my wife or one of my children's voices on the other end.

“Hello,” said the stranger's voice. “Is this David Perry, the Rogue Recruiter from the Wall Street Journal article?'

“It is!” I replied. “Who am I speaking to and how can I help you this morning?” I replied. Obviously, the “Rogue Recruiter” reference indicated that the caller had read the Wall Street Journal article, which revealed some of the more innovative tactics I had employed for successfully contacting elusive and highly desirable senior execs regarding executive search assignments. The Wall Street Journal article was a lengthy and revealing piece that had caused quite a stir in the executive search industry. It also brought forth a flood of interest from individuals and companies floundering with their executive recruiting efforts. Even NBC's Today Show called requesting an on-air interview.

“Are you the recruiter that did all those crazy things to recruit executives? Was it all true? Are you as good as they say?” he asked.

“Yes,” I responded with a laugh. “I am the Rogue Recruiter … and what can I do for you?”

“My name is Fred Teshinsky. I'm the owner of a manufacturing company, Tulip, in L.A. and I read that article. I need to hire a COO and I've had two companies try—and they both failed: miserable waste of money and my time. So don't you waste my time! Are you really any good?”

Now he had my attention. “Fred, tell me what you do and what the recruiters did for you.”

“I told you, I'm a manufacturer. We make products for companies out of plastic. How hard can it be to find a COO in the Midwest with this recession going on anyway?”

Fred and I talked for a good half hour about his company and more specifically why he needed to hire this chief operating officer. At the end of the call I agreed to give him a proposal, and an extensive list of references.

Much to my surprise, Fred phoned all of the references and asked some pretty pointed questions. He was obviously satisfied with the answers because he signed the search agreement and sent the retainer check with two first-class tickets to Los Angeles, as I had requested. I wasn't about to try to resurrect a search that two of the largest firms in the country had failed to deliver on before meeting face-to-face with Fred. That's just asking for trouble. I don't need the headaches and, frankly, in the recruiting business you're only as good as your last hire, and it turns out that my next assignment would be a significant milestone for me.

My business partner Anita Martel had reminded me that the next search I did would be my 1,000th, and I wanted it to go well. Up to that point I had achieved success in 996 out of 999 executive recruiting assignments. So my 1,000th recruiting project was looming, and I didn't want to turn it down until I understood the circumstances that led to failure for the other two firms.

So there we were, crawling through the Los Angeles traffic on our way to meet Fred—and possibly heading straight back home. When we reached our destination we were parked outside a nondescript industrial building made entirely out of cinder block: clean, neat, but certainly nondescript. Apparently, neither the customers nor the owners of the company placed a high priority on the image their building conveyed.

I pushed down hard on the buzzer. It was hot outside and I hoped they had air-conditioning. After a few seconds, somebody, somewhere, must have looked through the video camera to determine that we were okay to let in, and that we were either harmless or lost, because the door was unlocked to allow us to enter. We proceeded into a very small vestibule adorned with wood paneling. The magazines on the coffee tables were all current. I was relieved. The reception area was upscale for a manufacturing facility: That made me feel hopeful that a candidate would not be alienated by an initial bad impression of the office facilities.

No executive recruiter wants to waste his time—or that of a client or prospective candidate—on a wild goose chase. We sell our time and expertise, and it's important to undertake risk mitigation. That's why we were here.

The meeting room we were ushered into up on the second floor was furnished with a massive old mahogany boardroom table. Solid. Heavy. Imposing. With ornately carved high-back black leather chairs. I sensed this boardroom was rarely used for impressing visitors. It was not adorned with pictures of the owners, employees, or the products manufactured. There was nothing personal on the wood-grain paneled walls. I saw the unimpressed look on Michael's face.

For me, though, the modest digs were a good sign. I prefer to deal with companies that focus on producing quality for their customers and aren't unnecessarily obsessed with image. Personally I gravitate to companies that solve real world problems, not ones that spend a lot of time and money on fluff. The boardroom was functional and had seen lots of traffic over the years. It felt solid. This company was real.

Fred came in. He's a short guy, and was favoring his left leg. He was followed by three other gentlemen who turned out to be retired executives sitting on Fred's board of directors. Fred introduced himself first, then turned toward the three gentlemen and introduced each of them quickly by name only. I would learn their pedigrees later over lunch. Fred was gregarious and welcoming, inquiring about our flight and how we found the directions getting here.

I introduced myself and Michael and then turned to Fred and said, “Let's begin. I need to ask you three questions.”

Perhaps he was startled by my forwardness, but Fred fired back, “You work for me now, and I'll be asking the questions.”

What followed sent a waterfall of perspiration gushing forth from Michael's balding head.

“Oh really!” I said. Reaching into the inside pocket of my suit jacket I held out the envelope Fred used to send our signed agreement and check. I quickly produced a single slip of paper and held it up for Fred's inspection, saying, “This is your check, which I haven't cashed. I'm going to ask you the three questions. If you answer them correctly we will take the search. If you don't, we won't, and I'll rip through the signature box, return the check, and we can all go for an early lunch. Fair enough?” I didn't bother to wait for his response.

“First question. Fred, I understand you hired not one but two of the top search firms in America to find your chief operating officer and they both came up empty. Did they give you a hands-off list before starting?”

“A what? What's that?” was Fred's response.

“Fred, did the search consultant present any of your competitors' people, or were most of the people you interviewed consultants?” I quickly asked as question number two.

Fred shook his head and was about to speak when I interrupted him and asked, “Fred, did either search firm provide a written plan detailing their approach to filling the search? Did they provide a Talent Road Map?”

“No,” was all Fred said.

Now, by this time Michael's breathing sounded a little labored. Indeed, Michael was new to the search business. This was the first time I had taken him with me to visit a potential new client, as we had only recently started working together. Michael had been my client. He had been a very successful high-tech executive for more than 40 years—a professional engineer and master negotiator. Michael had risen through the ranks to become chief executive officer of several large companies and two start-u...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Praise Page
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Table of Contents
• Dedication
• How to Maximize Your Use of this Book
• Foreword
• Preface
• Chapter 1: Great Expectations: Defining Value
• Chapter 2: Architects of Success: Setting Up the Search Committee
• Chapter 3: Preparation: RecruiterNomics
• Chapter 4: Positioning the Opportunity: The Quick and the Dead
• Chapter 5: Finding the Right Fit: Lions Don't Need to Roar
• Chapter 6: Due Diligence: Don't Hire a Liar
• Chapter 7: Sealing the Deal: The Future Is in Your Hands
• Epilogue: All In: Touched by Greatness
• Acknowledgments
• About The Authors
• Appendix A: Position Profile
• Appendix B: Confidential Candidate Brief
• Index
• End User License Agreement